"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4: 12

The Bible tells us we are all sinners in that we are convicted before God twice: By Original Sin and by failure to keep the Torah.

To keep our souls out of an eternal fiery Hell, we need to be “washed in the blood of the Lamb”, that is the blood of Jesus. But since the Gospels can’t agree (see below) on just who and what this Divine Man is, we are forced to look outside of the New Testament for a savior named Jesus.

A major problem in the Gospel of Matthew 27: 17 is that we have more than one Jesus crucified by Ponitus Pilate! As pointed out by Bruce Metzger in his A Textural Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed., 1994 p. 56 states:

In a tenth century uncial manuscript (S) and in about twenty minuscule manuscripts a marginal comment states: “In many ancient copies which I have met with I found Barabbas himself likewise called ‘Jesus’; that is, the question of Pilate . . . “ Τίνα θέλετε ἀπολύσω ὑμῖν, Ἰησοῦν τὸν Βαραββᾶν ἢ Ἰησοῦν τὸν λεγόμενον Χριστόν" ("Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?")

In a closing statement on this verse Metzger notes that “A majority of the Committee was of the opinion that the original text of Matthew had the double name in both verses and that Ἰησοῦν was deliberately suppressed in most witnesses for reverential consideration” or we might more accurately note for apologetic / theological purposes!

To keep orthodox faith and theology kosher, all 19 English translations don’t even include this disturbing verse and state: “Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”

Secondly, in Acts 13: 6 Paul and Barnabas encounter a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus. To keep this Son of Jesus separate from the Gospel Jesus, English Bible translations leave the Aramaic Bar-Jesus least many Christians might think Jesus the Jew had a son!

Now let’s consider twelve more people named Jesus in the Second Temple Period: